When Tampere was being founded, the townspeople received an order according to which their livelihood was to be linked with trade, factories, or handicraft. They got special privileges in order to speed up the industry: founders of manufactures got cheap lots and loans, exemption from taxes, the licence to import raw materials without having to pay customs duties and the licence to sell their products without limitations. The age of artisans lasted until the mid-nineteenth century, however. Servants of the gentry and apprentices of the artisans were under legal protection until the year 1879: the masters kept their workers ”under discipline” but were at the same time obliged to provide them with ”wholesome and sufficient nourishment and suitable lodgings”. The natural rhythm of days and seasons regulated the use of time in the early nineteenth century; people could work only as long as there was enough light. All days except Sundays and church holidays were work days.